When it comes to having children, teaching them the ways of the world is highly important. Helping them to differentiate between what’s right and wrong is the most important, but as parents, you’ll learn that teaching them responsibility is hugely important too.
Parenting can be hard, which many celebrities are speaking out about, but there are a number of ways to make it a little easier. Below, are four suggestions to help teach your children responsibility, to make it a little easier for you.
Clean Their Rooms
You can make their room look wonderful by kitting it out with the likes of Cotswold wardrobes – but they’ll surely make it a mess. But, a great way to get your little ones to take responsibility is to get them to clean their bedrooms after them. If this proves to be a little difficult, you could start by giving them a hand at the end of the day as you clear things away. You can then move on to having them clear things away when they’ve finished with it. Easier said than done, I know. My boys HATE tidying up, but a suggestions further down has helped with this.
Help Around the House
Helming around the house not only teaches responsibility, it also gives them the chance to do something ‘grown-up’ and feel a little special. From helping you vacuum, do the garden or even sort through the washing and putting items away, it’ll not only help them learn the importance to tidying up and caring for things, but will also make them feel helpful, which is a great positive re-enforcement technique.
Getting Creative
Whether you want them to help out in the garden and care for some plants, make a cake or create some wonderful pictures, it’s a good technique for teaching responsibility. This is because they’ll understand the time and effort that was put into making each and every thing, and this way it should encourage them to take care of it, which will then move into the rest of their daily lives.
Star Chart
If you’ve tried all of the above, but you’re still struggling to get your little ones to fully take responsibility for things, then it’s time to implement the star chart. With one of these you’ll be able to put a select number of activities, let’s say five, which your child has to achieve each day. These could be everything from getting dressed and brushing their teeth to cleaning their rooms. You’ll then be able to give them a star for everything they’ve done, and when they reach a certain number of stars they get a prize or fun activity to do. This will help teach them that if they’re responsible and do as they’re told, then they’ll be rewarded, it’s a win for everyone involved.
We’ve recently introduced this with Lamb and it’s working amazingly. We have several tasks on his chart,including ‘getting dressed nicely’, ’empty plate’ and ‘reading’. The three things we struggle with daily. Oh and let’s not forget ‘don’t be angry’ – he really is struggling with his temper at the moment.
Seeing his progress with the chart has really helped him want to be better in general. He’s even tidied up without being asked and informed me he’s earned his sticker!
Do you have any tips for teaching your children responsibility?
~A~
* Collaborative post
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